27 November 1995

Mick Kavanagh finds the driving seat of a Chieftain tank is popular with clients. Sue Churchill is a freelance journalist and a partner in business consultants Churchill Associates, Devon.If wining and dining doesn’t appeal to clients, Sue Churchill thinks hosting a topical seminar could bring in new business. As customer loyalty slips away, solicitors are […]

PLANNING lawyers have called for an overhaul of large and medium-sized planning inquiries in an effort to speed up the process. In a report to the Department of Environment, the planning and environmental law sub-committee of the City of London Law Society said the current procedures lacked “teeth” to deal with those who disregarded the […]

The British Council and the British Italian Law Association will hold a conference on the internationalisation of European Union law in Bologna this week. The conference, to be held from 30 November to 2 December, will examine the legal harmonisation process and discover whether a “two speed” Europe is in the best interests of the […]

Before Identify the target market from prospects and clients; Match your seminar topic to the client’s needs; Invest in a good guest speaker; Run it as a joint venture with other professionals; Double-check the venue and timing; Use a range of promotional tools; Try and persuade a local newspaper to sponsor the event; Monitor response […]

THEODORE Goddard US associate Dewey Ballantine has poached the head of a rival firm’s practice and signed him as partner in charge of its Prague office. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom’s Marc Packer, who worked as European counsel in Prague for three years, moves over on 1 December. He becomes managing partner of the […]

CITY FIRM Norton Rose is campaigning for a client who is in dispute with the Inland Revenue over an arrangement to reduce inheritance tax. The firm made the arrangement in 1989 for the freehold of Lady Ingram’s property to be transferred to her children before she died, but for her to remain in the house […]

THE LEGAL profession has been urged to take note of a “resounding rejection” of court trials in an opinion poll on civil justice. The National Consumer Council has highlighted the “marked lack of enthusiasm for a full trial” displayed by the respondents to a civil justice survey it commissioned jointly with the BBC’s Law in […]

More than 110 lawyers from 20 countries across the globe met in Bombay last week to discuss business opportunities in India and Asia. The con- ference, held by the International Bar Association, was organised in conjunction with local lawyers and supported by the Indian and Bombay Bars. Topics included foreign invest- ment, business laws, infrastructure […]

The Vietnamese economy seriously opened up to foreign investment in 1988 and has grown rapidly since then. From a centrally planned economy, it has developed into a market-oriented environment. Vietnam’s foreign investment laws were based on those of the People’s Republic of China and left plenty of scope for ministerial interpretation. The government listened to […]

A POLICEMAN denied bereavement compensation for his son’s murder after the collapse of the criminal injuries compensation scheme has appealed for legal help. John Davis had the prospect of £10,000 compensation snatched away when the House of Lords threw out Home Secretary Michael Howard’s controversial tariff-based scheme in April. Although his application had already been […]

FUTURE statutory regulation of the Bar is looming after the Bar Council’s surprise defeat by members over its proposed complaints scheme. Concern was expressed from all quarters, including the Legal Services Ombudsman, consumer bodies and the Labour Party, over the vote at the open meeting last week. The meeting was held because of opposition to […]

Coudert Brothers advised Samsung on its £8 million acquisition of a nine-acre site in Hounslow, which will be used as European headquarters and an international training centre for the company. Bristows Cooke & Carpmael acted for the vendor TRICO, the windscreen wiper manufacturer.